Samson, Bo and me in Savannah

No Regrets, Coyote

My first encounter with a coyote was in California years ago, while on a hike with my dad. He was trotting along the side of the road, minding his own business; he seemed rather shy. My last sighting was in Central Park a few years ago. I was sitting a park bench at lunchtime and saw one in the distance, in the forested area of the park. First I thought it was a wolf by his size, but then I read about the coyote presence in Central Park, and “coywolves,” a hybrid of the two animals.

This year they hit Bergen County (my county), New Jersey. A man walking his dog was bitten on the ankle by an aggressive coyote in Norwood. The animal was rabid and had to be killed; another was found dead in a trap on Sunday. Three dens were discovered in Frank and Joanne Spadaccinia’s yard.

As their populations rise, they move from forest to suburb to city where there are fewer predators and more food. They have been spotted on the Upper West Side, in the Bronx, Chelsea and Battery Park, but seem to avoid Long Island.

Mark Weckel, a Brooklyn-born conservation scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, who co-founded the Gotham Coyote Project, said they have moved east as logging opened a path for them and their predators died off.

“Local extinction of the eastern wolf and puma opened up a niche for coyotes,” said Weckel. “Once they got here, they adapted. That’s the secret to their success.”

I think we can do it, New York. We are known as the “melting pot,” a culturally and ethnically diverse mélange of a town, open to new ideas and people. Let’s welcome these former prairie denizens, the new kids on the block.

When we lived in the country (about five miles from my apt. now) we could hear they yipping in the distance at night. Neighbors reported seeing them occasionally. I worried they might come after our chickens, but the fox was quicker. They roam a very wide territory.

OK, I can honestly say I never associated coyotes (or a variant of) with New Jersey or New York….very informative! Dynamics are changing between wild life and urbanization. Our house in San Diego was by a canyon and you would hear the coyotes with their shrill kill sounds as they went into a feeding frenzy with a neighborhood, cat, dog or wild rabbit, etc. I use to come across them in the early morning hours when I would go for a run and they pretty much kept to themselves. I came across one here in the desert last week and was surprised how large and healthy it look…not like the scrawny California ones.
Great post!!

When I worked for the Minneapolis police, we received all kinds of wild animal calls: coyotes, bear, raccoon (who I swear can grow as large as bears), pythons, alligators and a mountain lion. Many of the exotic species were “pets” that irresponsible owners simply released. Can you imagine releasing a mountain lion?

As for coyotes, Almost Iowa is thick with them. Drawn by the scent of birth, they like to feed on new born calves and lambs, . To defend the new born, farmers keep donkeys in the pens. Donkeys and coyotes do not get along. It is not unusual to find a smear on the ground where a donkey stomped a coyote into the grass.